Shopping for a wheat or Grain Allergy

Whether you are suffering from a wheat allergy or intolerance, or Coeliac disease you will need to read every label carefully. Wheat and Gluten are found in lots of products but given the improved labelling and the growth in awareness of these conditions more items are being produced in a “Free-From” environment. Coeliac Uk have been working with larger supermarket chains to try to ensure that basic lines of Gluten Free products are readily available and well labelled, they also offer a mobile app to help make shopping less daunting.

Common sources of Wheat in the supermarket would include;

Bakery products – even those labelled Rye etc. may contain some wheat, as do cakes, biscuits, savoury muffins or other baked goods.

Flour, pasta, breaded meat, fish or vegetables (such as mushrooms, onion rings), and any product that is thickened or seasoned may use breadcrumbs or flour.

Powdered/ instant or thickened drinks need to be checked carefully and although it may not seem obvious any alcoholic beverage made from Wheat or Grains may not be suitable – that includes not just stouts and ales but lagers, whiskies, gins, and wines.

Be aware that prepared sauces, stocks and ready meals can all be unexpected sources of wheat, as can confectionary such as chocolate bars, sweets and even medication.

Every label needs to be read carefully as despite finding a product that may be safe on one occasion a different brand, different production run or new improvement to the recipe can render it useless.